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A woman related to a victim of the gas explosion, right, is overcome by grief at a funeral parlor in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. (The Associated Press)

The magnitude of the gas blast obliterated infrastructure in Taiwan's second largest city. (SAM YEH / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

By Yu-Huay SunTim CulpanBloomberg

Fri., Aug. 1, 2014

TAIPEI, TAIWAN—Blasts caused by leaked gas overnight in the port city of Kaohsiung killed at least 25 people and injured about 267, in what’s being described as Taiwan’s deadliest gas explosion.

The blasts in the island’s second-most populous city started just before midnight after reports of gas leaks began from 8:46 p.m., the National Fire Agency said in a statement on its website. Four policemen and fire fighters are among the dead and six kilometres of city roads were destroyed, the city said.

The force of the blast overturned dozens of cars parked on the street, including minibuses and station wagons. ETTV cable network showed vehicles flipped on their sides as fires blazed in the early morning darkness, while Sanlih Television showed a car lodged in the third floor of a building. Part of a city street at least a block long had caved in, and store front windows were broken. Rescue workers, seen on TVBS, combed through the rubble of homes looking for survivors.

The Taipei-based United Daily News called it the deadliest gas explosion in Taiwan’s history. Kaohsiung mayor Chen Chu’s office said the incident is the worst gas accident in the city’s history. A deadly accident in 1997 occurred as workers tried to replace a liquefied petroleum gas pipe in the city, according to the Liberty Times. Eleven people were killed and 17 were injured.

The cause of the explosions overnight is still being investigated with initial assessments indicating a leakage of propylene, a gas used to make plastics and fabrics, Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch said in a televised briefing. Fires resulting from the blasts have been brought under control.

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“It sounded like a bomb. I thought mainland China was invading,” said Kang Shun-tian, 62, who had just gone to sleep on the third floor of the tire shop where he’s lived for 42 years. Rushing downstairs, he saw flames leaping more than three storeys high, Kang said, pointing to singed leaves on trees across the street.

Nearby, David Liu, 42, stood outside his home next to his blue Suzuki Vitara, crushed by chunks of concrete. He thought it was an earthquake when their building shook, he said,

A few doors down from Kang and Liu, another car continued blasting its horn from under the rubble 17 hours after the initial blast.

Kaohsiung resident Sydney Chen posted on his Facebook profile that he felt an explosion resembling an earthquake before hearing screams from the street. His electricity was knocked out and he woke up his family to leave their home, according to the post.

The blasts cut gas supplies to 23,600 households, power to 8,473 households, while 13,500 homes were without water as of 3 p.m. Friday, according to a statement on the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs. Almost 2,000 military servicemen were dispatched to assist with the rescue.

Injured bystanders were seen on television resting in cars and nearby residents assembled makeshift stretchers to carry others to safety, Formosa Television showed. In all, 1,212 residents were relocated, according to the municipal government.

Early inspections indicated a large amount of propylene was present in Kaohsiung sewage pipes, which exploded along the city streets, city spokesman Ting Yun-kung said by phone. An initial check showed a petrochemical pipe linking China General Terminal & Distribution and LCY Chemical had an “abnormal” drop in pressure, Ting said.

Taipei-based LCY Chemical said its pipes, located about 10 metres away from the explosion sites, appeared to be intact when examined early this morning.

Southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung is the site of two of state-run CPC Corp.’s oil refineries. The company, along with Formosa Petrochemical, is a major propylene producer in Taiwan, which also imports the chemical.

Taiwan Premier Jiang Yi-huah ordered flags to be flown at half-mast for three days from Aug. 5 in memory of recent casualties from both the gas explosions and the crash of a TransAsia Airways flight on July 23, killing 48 people.

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